MANILA – Malacañang berated Vice President Leni Robredo for her penchant of finding fault on President Rodrigo Duterte after the latter’s statement over the West Philippines Sea.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Robredo’s latest pronouncement was part of her “nitpicking and habitual engagement in useless and unproductive semantics.”
Robredo recently described as “profoundly disappointing and extremely irresponsible” Duterte’s remark that he will “ignore” the 2016 Hague ruling as he pursued a joint oil and gas exploration with China in the West Philippine Sea.
“The problem with my friend Vice President Leni Robredo is the inability of her political advisers to comprehend the complexities of our current situation with China. She may want to change them with some erudite intellectuals knowledgeable in geopolitics and in the art of diplomacy,” Panelo said.
“Like the usual detractors and critics of the President, VP Robredo may have been carried away by their nitpicking and habitual engagement in useless and unproductive semantics,” he added.
Panelo insisted Duterte “is not, in any way, or by any stretch, surrendering our rights over the West Philippine Sea.”
“The arbitral ruling, as the President has repeatedly said, is final, binding and unappealable,” Panelo said. “The ruling will be there forever and ever, as in forever.”
“What he meant when he said that he will first set aside the ruling is that he would first focus on exploring the possibility of getting something from the area that would benefit the Filipino people pending the continuing diplomatic and peaceful negotiation of our territorial dispute with China,” he added.
“Notwithstanding this impasse with China on our territorial conflict,” he said, “wisdom, prudence and pragmatism dictate that we forge in strengthening our foreign relations on uncontested matters that will invariably provide mutual benefit to our countries.”/PN
